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- ISBN13: 9780743299794
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
When The Machine That Changed the World was first published in 1990, Toyota was half the size of General Motors. Today Toyota is passing GM as the world’s largest auto maker and is the most consistently successful global enterprise of the past fifty years. This management classic was the first book to reveal Toyota’s lean production system that is the basis for its enduring success.Now reissued with a new Foreword and Afterword, Machine contrasts two fundamentally d… More >>
read comments (5)
March 10th, 2010 at 2:18 am
The Machine That Changed the World and the subsequent articles that Mr. Womack has written for the Wall Street Journal almost make him look like a shill for Toyota. This book either omits or minimizes the importance of developments that lead Toyota to the Toyota Production System. I expected a more independent and intellectually honest viewpoint because Mr. Womack passes himself off as a top academic.
Rating: 2 / 5
March 10th, 2010 at 4:43 am
This book contains all the seeds of the Lean Production Ideas. A must for the serious Lean Practitioner. This is the most influential book on the subject. However it needs a great deal of study and deep understanding but it’s worth it for the insight and Lean foundations it provides.
Rating: 5 / 5
March 10th, 2010 at 7:18 am
Just an excellent research effort — one of best I’ve read — I’d compare with Jim Collins Good/Great and Built to Last work. I’d recommend…
Rating: 5 / 5
March 10th, 2010 at 9:27 am
If you want to understand why GM, Ford, and Chrysler are doomed and have been doomed for two decades, this is the book.
I’ve worked both for GM (twice) and in Japan for a Japanese automotive supplier, and I can attest that this book really got it right.
Unfortunately, while everyone in Detroit has read this book, they have never followed any of its advice or conclusions. All the talk about restructuring the US automobile manufacturers is simply about reducing costs and not about making better products by working cooperatively with employees, suppliers, dealers, and customers. Instead, Detroit continues to beat up suppliers on price and wonders why their quality is poor, push employees on wages and wonders why employees care little if the company is successful, haggle with their dealer network to push unwanted cars onto unreceptive customers.
We can bail out the industry financially, but until they learn to compete with the Japanese, they are doomed to decreasing relevance and increasing losses.
This book isn’t exciting to read, but nearly 20 years since its original publication, it remains as relevant as ever.
Rating: 5 / 5
March 10th, 2010 at 10:43 am
A landmark study. The agony and failures of the big three Detroit automakers, compared to the continuing success of Toyota and other innovative companies like Honda, demonstrate the effectiveness of what the authors describe as Lean Production. A ‘must read’ to understand some of the history of how their products came to be consistently rated at the top in quality, engineering, reliability, and dependability.
Rating: 5 / 5